Sense and the city: exploring the embodied geographies of urban walking

Middleton, Jennie

doi:10.1080/14649365.2010.497913

Cited by 238 publications

(207 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…However, this is also significant in urban and pedestrian policy terms. For example, an area might be considered more`walkable' if the flow of pedestrian movement could seamlessly flow on`autopilot' (Middleton, 2010). It is habitual behaviour that facilitates such movement.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, TfL has commissioned research that focuses on walking behaviour, motivations, and barriers to pedestrian movement. However, much of this policy-commissioned research assumes that walking is a homogeneous and largely self-evident means of transport (Middleton, 2010). There is little attention paid to the experiential dimensions of walking.…”

Section: Research Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“I'm on Autopilot, I Just Follow the Route”: Exploring the Habits, Routines, and Decision-Making Practices of Everyday Urban Mobilities

Middleton

2011

Environ Plan A

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Abstract. Much urban and transport policy is based on a series of assumptions relating to predefined journeys informed by rational decision making. For example, the dominant focus of urban pedestrian policy is how the built environment is the primary influence on a person's decision to walk, with these decisions being made at a specific time and place somehow outside the practice of walking. Little attention is given to the importance of the processual and experiential dimensions of walking itself. This paper considers the ways in which journeys into, and through, the city unfold. Specific attention is drawn to how forms of habitual performance, such as practical knowledge and embodied habits and routines, assist in engaging with everyday urban movements. In the context of in-depth research conducted in London, the paper explores the habits and routines of urban pedestrian mobilities such as the daily commute, and in so doing, highlights the complexity and ongoing reconfiguration of these journeys beyond analysis informed by`rational' intention. In contrast to much transport research that conceives of habit as an external force that somehow obstructs more positive sustainable travel behaviour, discussion focuses on the significance of how everyday urban walking unfolds. It is argued that this form of engagement makes it possible to understand habit as situated and part and parcel of the sequentially organised and occasioned performance of journeys on foot. This, in turn, enables the transformative potential of habitual behaviour to be realised. Throughout the paper consideration is given to specific narratives of everyday urban mobilities; the significance of how such practices are actually`talked about'; and how these accounts matter in engaging with the experiential dimensions of urban movement.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I'm on Autopilot, I Just Follow the Route”: Exploring the Habits, Routines, and Decision-Making Practices of Everyday Urban Mobilities

Middleton

2011

Environ Plan A

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“…(Anderson 2004, 257) A second line of inquiry sees walking as an object of research (Wylie 2005;Murphy 2011;see Ingold and Vergunst [2008] in sociology). Middleton helps to frame our argument; whereas her earlier work focused on transcripts of walking experiences of urban residents as data (Middleton 2009(Middleton , 2010, she recently argued that walking is also a subjective practice that needs study itself. She wrote (and we agree) that a "distinction might be drawn between transport research revolving around concerns with walking as a subject and much other work engaging with pedestrian practices drawing upon walking as a method" (Middleton 2011, 100).…”

Section: Walking As a Contemporary Research Objectmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Geographers have increasingly focused attention on walking as an object of study because of its ubiquity and impact on urban experience (Edensor 2008(Edensor , 2010Middleton 2009;DeLyser and Sui 2013). Our aim is not to privilege walking but to call for more attention to (and reporting of) walking that urban researchers might already practice as both a precursor to and by-product of other ongoing research practices.…”

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confidence: 99%

Walking as Method: Toward Methodological Forthrightness and Comparability in Urban Geographical Research

Pierce

Lawhon

2015

The Professional Geographer

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Qualitative urban geographical research should explicitly acknowledge insights gained from walking (the iterative exploration and observation of cities on foot), which enhances local literacy and enables researchers to compare methods more explicitly. Some urban geographers might use walking as a method, but it is rarely reported in published scholarship. This article argues for the explicit inclusion of walking in methodological reporting for urban research. We suggest that reporting the walking that researchers do adds rigor to research findings and should be distinguished from research where this practice is absent, we report on international experiences using walking in combination with other methods, and we conclude with a proposal for comparable urban geographic walking practices.

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“…Our sensory body allows us to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel the city and its features (Jones and Burwood, 2011;Middleton, 2010;Wunderlich, 2008). These features may be ''human'', such as the social life of the city, and ''nonhuman'', such as the urban built environment.…”

Section: The Embodied Experience Of Commuter Cyclingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retracing trajectories: the embodied experience of cycling, urban sensescapes and the commute between ‘neighbourhood’ and ‘city’ in Utrecht, NL

Duppen

Spierings

2013

Journal of Transport Geography

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a b s t r a c tThis paper looks into the experience of ''passing through different territories of the city'' (Sennett, 2006, p. 3). Despite their importance for making sense of the city as a whole, these experiences are often not acknowledged in urban planning. This paper compares the everyday, embodied experiences of commuter cyclists with the planners' perspective on Utrecht. 'On the ground' data was collected via ride-alongs with 15 inhabitants of the Leidsche Rijn neighbourhood. Our analysis reveals cycling trajectories composed of diverse sensescapes. It paints a much more complex picture of intra-urban divisions and connections than the planners' perspective of the 'new' Leidsche Rijn neighbourhood separated from the 'old' city by major infrastructure lines.

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Sense and the city: exploring the embodied geographies of urban walking

Cited by 238 publications

References 69 publications

“I'm on Autopilot, I Just Follow the Route”: Exploring the Habits, Routines, and Decision-Making Practices of Everyday Urban Mobilities

“I'm on Autopilot, I Just Follow the Route”: Exploring the Habits, Routines, and Decision-Making Practices of Everyday Urban Mobilities

Walking as Method: Toward Methodological Forthrightness and Comparability in Urban Geographical Research

Retracing trajectories: the embodied experience of cycling, urban sensescapes and the commute between ‘neighbourhood’ and ‘city’ in Utrecht, NL

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